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Sacro Cuore di Gesù a Ponte Mammolo
Sacro Cuore di Gesù a Ponte Mammolo is a 20th century Fascist-era parish church at Via di Casal de' Pazzi 88 in the Ponte Mammolo quarter, just north-west of the Rebibbia metro station on the Via Tiburtina. Pictures of the church on Wikimedia Commons are here. The dedication is to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. History The locality was originally served by the little 17th century farmstead chapel of San Giuseppe al Casale di Rebibbia, but this proved completely inadequate once suburban development started. So the parish was established in 1936, and its church erected in the same year. The edifice was designed by Tullio Rossi. Initially the parish was administered by diocesan clergy. However, in 1957 it was entrusted to the Salesians who passed it on to the Franciscan Conventuals in 1961. They were succeeded by clergy from the diocese of Agrigento, but now the parish is back with the priests of the diocese of Rome. Exterior Layout and fabric The plan is basilical, based on a Latin cross. The façade is occupied by an external loggia or narthex, followed by a single nave without aisles of four bays. Then comes a transept, substantially wider than the nave, and finally there is a sanctuary with a three-sided apse. The fabric is in brick and reinforced concrete. The façade is in red brick, but the other exterior walls are rendered in a creamy white which provides a surprising contrast. The nave side walls each have four sets of windows, each of these comprising two round-headed windows topped by a single circular one. The ends of the transept each have a set of four vertical rectangular windows, and each side of the sanctuary has a set of three. A total of thirty-one window openings had stained glass installed in 1991. The roofs are flat, with parapets integral with the walls. The nave roof is slightly lower than that covering the transept and sanctuary. The left hand side of the church is occupied by a large chapel at its near end. The right hand side has a large flat-roofed convent, arranged around a courtyard and with its main wing abutting the right hand end of the transept. On the convent roof next to the transept is a campanile with an L-shaped plan, formed of two slabs each pierced by a round-headed aperture. Fabric The façade is in red brick, with a false gable containing a large round aperture which, since it is above the roofline, has natural light shining through it in daytime. There are three vertical rectangular strip windows in a row over the narthex. The latter stretches for more than the width of the church, has five undecorated arches and a pitched and tiled roof. Interior Nave The interior is stark and in white, with a light grey dado. The flat ceiling supported by shallow transverse beams attached to undecorated pilasters between the windows. Colour is provided by the stained glass, and by a very good set of paintings of the Stations of the Cross. The latter are in a very realistic and archaeologically correct style. The windows in the counterfaçade feature symbols relating to the Sacred Heart, those in the nave refer to the Eucharist and those in the transept are symbolic of Our Lady and St Joseph. The last set are apparently inspired by the poetry of David Maria Turoldo. Sanctuary The re-ordered sanctuary has the altar brought forward on a semi-circular platform in green marble, accessed by four steps with risers in the same stone. The altar frontal bears a Cosmatesque-style mosaic cross from which flow the waters of life. To the left, the lectern has a mosaic of ''The Garden of Eden, ''and the font has a mosaic of flowing water. The former altarpiece of the Sacred Heart, an undistinguished painting, is now on the back wall of the sanctuary. Liturgy According to the parish website (May 2019), Mass is celebrated: Weekdays 7:30 (not August), 18:00 (19:00 in summer); Sundays and Solemnities 8:30, 10:00, 11:30 (not summer), 19:00. External links Official diocesan web-page Parish website Italian Wikipedia page Info.roma web-page Category:Catholic churches Category:Outside the walls - North-East Category:Dedications to Jesus Christ Category:Dedications to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Category:Parish churches Category:20th century